1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a devices used to hold hair clippers, and more particularly to a clipper oil stand that cleans and lubricates hair clippers while holding the clippers ready for use.
2. Description of Related Art
Hair clippers are in frequent use in barber shops, beauty salons, and other facilities where hair is cut and styled. The barber or hair stylist commonly places the hair clippers on counter tops, in recharger stands, and in holsters where they can be easily reached. During use hair, oil, grease and other contaminants tend to adhere to the cutting blades so that the blades need to be cleaned. Clipper blades also require lubrication so that the blades are freely movable, and also before sharpening. It is also considered desirable to treat the blades with a disinfectant for sanitary purposes, and it may be aesthetically pleasing to treat the blades with a perfume. A hair clipper stand which can serve each of these functions would therefore be desirable. A number of devices for performing one or more of these functions have been proposed, but none which accomplish all of these purposes.
A discussion of the present art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,180, issued Apr. 25, 1972 to Richard L. Urbush, titled, xe2x80x9cSelf-charging Appliance and Standxe2x80x9d describes a cordless electric hair clipper and a recharger stand with complementary surfaces for guiding the clipper into the stand. The stand portion of the device holds the clipper horizontally and includes a trickle charger. The stand does not provide for cleaning or lubricating the clippers.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 339,655, issued Sep. 21, 1993 to Joseph M. Sulik, titled, xe2x80x9cHair Trimmer and Support Base Assemblyxe2x80x9d shows an ornamental design for a stand to support a cordless hair trimmer in which the butt end or hand grip of the clippers is inserted into a support base assembly.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 360,485, issued Jul. 18, 1995 to Robert Simonelli, titled, xe2x80x9cHair Clipper Stand,xe2x80x9d shows another ornamental design for a hair clipper stand. It would appear from the drawings that the butt end of the cordless clippers is inserted into the opening defined by the stand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,575, issued Sep. 15, 1992 to Ronald S. Hampton, Sr., titled, xe2x80x9cComposition and Method for Cleaning and Lubricating Hair Shears,xe2x80x9d describes an oil-based solution for cleaning and lubricating hair shears.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,172,416, issued Mar. 9, 1965 to Herbert H. Simmons, titled, xe2x80x9cCleaning Device for Electric Razors,xe2x80x9d describes a cleaning device for electric razors intended for shaving facial hair. The device has a motor-driven impeller for driving a cleaning fluid through a plurality of channels at high speed for cleaning the cutters of the razor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,030 issued Mar. 25, 1997 to Gebhard Braun titled, xe2x80x9cMethod of Cleaning a Shaving Head of a Dry Shaving Apparatus,xe2x80x9d describes a closed circuit fluid cleaning system for electric razors. Like Simmons above, Braun does not provide a stand for hair clippers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,391 issued to Jxc3xcrgen Hxc3x6ser titled, xe2x80x9cCleaning Device for a Dry Shaver,xe2x80x9d describes a closed circuit fluid cleaning system for electric razors. Like Simmons and Braun above, Hxc3x6ser does not provide a stand for hair clippers.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The clipper oil stand has a reservoir for containing a suitable oil for cleaning, lubricating, disinfecting, and scenting the blades of a hair clipper. The reservoir has at least one sidewall and a bottom wall for containing the oil, and a cover attached to the sidewall by a hinge. A well having sloped sidewalls and a perforated bottom wall depends from the cover. A sloped cradle is mounted on top of the cover. The hair clippers are placed in the cradle, blade end downwards, the clipper blades extending through an opening in the bottom of the cradle so that oil filling into the well from the reservoir cleans and lubricates the hair clipper blades.
A gasket or rubber seal lines the periphery of the cover to form a seal between the cover and the sidewall(s) of the reservoir when the cover is closed. One or more latches may be provided to secure the cover in a closed position. Feet may be attached to the bottom wall of the reservoir to raise the bottom wall above a counter or tabletop, and to prevent the reservoir from sliding or skidding across a supporting surface.
The reservoir is filled with oil to a depth sufficient to raise the level of oil in the well to immerse the blades of a hair clipper placed on the stand. The clipper may be turned on for a short period, e.g., up to one minute, in order to agitate the oil and circulate the oil through the clipper blades. Hair clippings and other particulate matter washed from the blades fall through the perforations in the bottom wall of the well into the reservoir. The clippers are removed from the stand, and drained, shaken, and/or wiped to remove excess oil.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a clipper oil stand for hair clippers that may be used in barber shops, hair styling salons and homes.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a clipper oil stand for supporting hair clippers in which the head of the clippers dip into a well containing oil at a depth sufficient to immerse the hair clipper blades for cleaning, lubricating, disinfecting, and/or scenting the blades.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a clipper oil stand having a cradle which supports the head end of the clippers in order to present the hand grip at the butt end of the clippers for easy manipulation by the user.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.